


Cheating The System

by malecandmerlin



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Angst, Best Friends, Cheating, Dysfunctional Family, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Roommates, Smut, Trains, not sure how this will end
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:22:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25782049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malecandmerlin/pseuds/malecandmerlin
Summary: Sat on the train, returning from Uni for Christmas break has never felt so alien. Although everything is seemingly normal: Phil is on the platform, all smiles, awaiting your arrival whilst Dan is classically running late and a bit of a mess; you can't help but absorb the ominous vibe that surrounds you...Maybe this is it...Maybe this is the moment that your world comes crashing down, the moment that Phil - your dear friend Phil, who couldn't hurt a fly; Phil who has taken you in as a sister; who has only ever treated you with the kindness and warmth that makes up his entire being - discovers the truth... that you've been sleeping with his boyfriend for the last two years.AU in which the boys are at separate universities and Dan gets a little lonely sometimes...
Relationships: Dan Howell & You, Dan Howell/Original Female Character(s), Dan Howell/Phil Lester, Dan Howell/Phil Lester/Original Female Character(s), Dan Howell/Phil Lester/Reader, Dan Howell/Reader, Dan Howell/You, Phil Lester & You
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Trains

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so this is the first fic I've ever posted - not entirely sure it's a great idea, but what the hell. I will try to add trigger warnings at the start of each chapter. As I'm writing this as I'm posting it, it is likely that the tags and stuff will change as I add more to the story. I have extremely low expectations for this fic but like I said, what the hell. 
> 
> As far as a constant upload schedule is concerned, I think for the time being I'm just gonna upload when I get the chance - but who knows, maybe if people like it it will motivate me to sort my shit out ;) 
> 
> Lastly, I know it goes without saying, but I do not own any characters in the fic bar the main original character - without sounding like a cliche, Dan and Phil are there own people and this is purely a work of fiction. Also I in absolutely no way mean any offence in this fic - although it is impossible to please everyone, if you are offended by something or I have misused a term, please please tell me as it is likely to be my own ignorance on the subject and not an intentional jibe... Let's all just educate each other and maybe the world will become a little better!?
> 
> Anyways, that's all. I hope you enjoy or whatever :))

So here I was yet again, sat on that same rickety train that follows its invariable path between Manchester and Leeds, on my way back home from university for the Christmas break. I wondered what it would be like to be this train; the same route day in, day out, strangers always taking advantage of your services but rarely giving anything in return, often leaving you in a worse state than when they arrived. Although my headphones were in, they had long stopped playing music, which was fortunate for me as I was so lost in my wondering that if my music had still been on I surely wouldn't have heard the distressed sounding mother a few seats behind me trying to organise her many children into leaving the train at Leeds. It took a minute for my brain to process the information before I realised that the train was already pulling into the bustling station. Crap, I had approximately 30 seconds to get my shit together before those doors opened. I grabbed my suitcase from above my head and fought my way through the onslaught of northern toddlers towards the doors, getting there with a few seconds to spare.

As the old, tired train, who I felt oddly sad to leave behind, ground to a stop, hissing and creaking like an old rocking chair, I scanned the platform for the familiar faces I knew would greet me. Out of the crowd I easily picked out the raven fringe of the man I knew would always be awaiting my arrival, as he was quite a bit taller than anyone else on the platform. "Phil!" I shouted to get his attention, his blue eyes locked with mine and a smile spread over his face, genuinely happy to see me. As I made my way towards him I felt so lucky that I had him, someone who was so kind and friendly towards me even after knowing me for so long, it almost made me feel bad. 

Once I'd made my way to him he enveloped me in his big arms and told me how great I looked; in truth I looked like a wreck, having had little sleep and being on a noisy train for the last hour and a half, but I thanked him anyway. As I went to pick up my suitcase, something felt off... Oh crap, I'd left my rucksack on the train, "Shit, Phil, I left my other bag on the train, hold on!" I shouted at him as I ran back towards the train, doors still thankfully open. I got inside and ran back to my seat, it was more crowded now and everyone was standing in the narrow aisle, blocking my path. I managed to make it to my seat and grabbed my bag, which was thankfully still there. 

Making my way back towards the doors, I heard the familiar honking sounded that signified that they would close in the next few seconds. My efforts doubled as I heard a familiar voice shout, "Excuse me, I need to get through!" it was authoritative, yet slightly desperate in its need to leave the train. There, coming down the opposite aisle to me, desperately trying to make it to the doors on time, was Dan. I was momentarily shocked to see him there, ceasing my efforts to push past a foul-smelling man as I studied him, trying to work out how he could have been there. 

He'd just about made it to the doors when they began closing. Oh no. I could tell what he was about to do, the idiot. Attempting to prevent him from being decapitated by the unstoppable train doors, I launched myself at him, grabbing his hand and pulling him back into the train just in time to see the doors close in his face as the train began whirring back to life. I had yanked him back at such force that we had landed on the sticky carpeted floor, surrounded by masses of legs. "Fuck." he muttered before turning around to see me, confusion washing over his face. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, clearly annoyed, "Now I've missed my bloody stop."

Any feeling of pride I had for saving this guy immediately vanished, replaced by a flare of anger, "If it wasn't for me your head would have been the only thing that made it to that platform!" I spat back at him, not in the mood to deal with his hissy fit. "And in case you hadn't noticed, that was my stop too, dipshit." We looked at each other for a few long seconds, contemplating the situation we had gotten ourselves into. 

He huffed before pushing himself up and offering me a hand with a smile, "Sorry." he mumbled, I've had a really shit few days, I just wanted to get back to Phil." A sad look crossed his eyes as I took his hand and he pulled me up off the ground. Even now I was standing, I barely reached his neck, being nearly a foot shorter than him. We were now the only two people left standing in the carriage and more than a few people were staring our way. "Come on." Dan muttered under his breath, pulling me over to some spare seats, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting.

We sat down, him on the aisle seat so his legs had enough space to stretch out, and me by the window, retying my messy bun as it had pretty much fallen out in all the commotion. "Have you texted Phil?" he nodded in reply, still looking at his phone. We sat there, pretty much in silence, for the next 10 minutes before the train began to pull into the next stop. "Better not miss this one." I joked, receiving an annoyed smirk. I laughed at his ridiculousness - and the ridiculousness of our entire current situation - as we made our way towards the train doors, this time in plenty of time with all of our belongings. 

Once out of the station, and after some Google Mapping, we realised we were about 2 miles from home. "Crap" I heard Dan mutter, "You got any cash for a taxi?" I shook my head; as it turns out, I hadn't expected to get stranded at the wrong station, so I had foolishly spent my last fiver on gross train food. Dan shook his head, "Neither." 

"Well it's not like we can call Phil," I stated, "He'd kill himself in a road accident before he even got to us." I meant it as a joke but Dan was clearly not in the mood. "I guess we're gonna have to walk it..." He groaned, as I suspected he would, but I couldn't be bothered right now so I just started off in the direction we had just come, knowing that he would catch me up when he'd stopped sulking. 

~~~

We had all been friends since primary school, the boys had been neighbours when they were kids, Phil was 2 and a half years older than Dan, and 2 years older than myself, I used to hang out with them a lot in an attempt to spare myself from my claustrophobic foster family. Back in primary school it was Phil's house that served as our hang out - Kath was lovely and it was guaranteed that there would be biscuits and ribena at Phil's house, even if she wasn't expecting us (although I have the feeling that she always was.) Kath was the closest thing Dan and I had ever known to a mother I suppose: Dan having never known the mother that had abandoned him and his dad; and me, the unwanted child left on the steps of Leeds Fire and Rescue Services. Our lives had been a cliché from the start, but Kath had always made us feel like we belonged somewhere, having taken us in on the several occasions we had run away from our respective households, never once questioning us or making us feel broken.

Of course, it had hit Phil the hardest when she died, just before his 18th, in a car accident on the way to see his brother Martyn. It had been quick, apparently, but she had been all alone - a hit and run. Phil was so sad, as was I, but Dan was angry. He couldn't get over how unfair it was that such an incredible woman had died with no one there to hold her hand. The day we had found out was one of the hardest days of our collective lives. Shortly after, Dan had moved in to keep an eye on Phil - and partly to escape his father, who had long since decided to self medicate the wound Dan's mother had left in him with vast amounts of alcohol, most days he didn't even acknowledge Dan's existence. 

Despite the holes in both mine and Dan's lives, at 15 years old, Kath was the first person either of us had ever truly lost and it took a long time for us to pull ourselves together after that day. But we did and life went on; Phil headed off to Uni that following September, English Language at York, whilst Dan and I attempted to struggle our ways through 6th form whilst trying to combat the loss of not only Kath, but also Phil, from our everyday lives by getting into some trouble that we had no business getting into. The disappointment on Phil's face when he got home for Christmas break and discovered that we had been missing classes in exchange for vandalism and day drinking was enough to put a stop to it right then. 

By that time Dan was living at Phil's, having not seen his father for a good six months. I was there too, most days, but legally I was required to be in the system until I turned 18 so I still had to return to my foster parents at least twice a week so they could claim the benefits and I wasn't announced as a missing person. Martyn, Phil's older brother, was living in London with his fiancé, Cornelia, and with Phil's dad long out of the picture, the house was empty. 

Dan and Phil had gotten together about 2 years ago, at the start of summer. Phil was recently 20 and Dan was coming up on 18 - I had already turned 18, thankfully, and had moved out of my foster family's home and into Phil's, along with Dan. They'd both played around a little with other people, but this was the first serious relationship either of them had been in. That September Dan and I had headed off to Manchester Uni - I to study Art and Design, and Dan to study Law. Neither Phil nor myself really knew why he had chosen Law, having never expressed an interest in the subject, but we accepted it as he had failed to get into his first choice of York and it was a bit of a sensitive subject.

That brings it up to now, Phil is in the final year of his degree at York - he's doing a master's in Video Post-Production - and Dan and I are in our second year at Manchester. We all try to hang out as much as possible, usually back home in Leeds as it's a sort of literal half way house between the 2 Universities, but occasionally Phil will come to us or we will go to him. The way my art course works out is that I often don't have as much free time as the guys, leaving them plenty of time to do boyfriend stuff without their favourite third wheel.

Despite our false starts in life, we all seem to be in a pretty good place right now; our own little family, breaking our way into the adult world together, seemingly the perfect feel good story of friendship, love and resilience in the face of challenge. There's only one problem, just one tiny kink in the fairy tale...

Dan is cheating on Phil, and I know who with.


	2. The Forbidden Fruit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a second draft as my dumb laptop deleted the first :/

I think by this point it was safe to say that Dan and Phil were my family. I had instantly warmed to them far quicker, and with much more intensity, than to any one of my foster siblings or parents and although to an outsider it may seem that I was closer to Phil because of his bubbly personality and natural affinity to try to be friendly with everyone, that was incorrect. In fact, I had a very deep connection with the both of them, whilst Dan and I got on each others nerves sometimes, we shared a profound, almost unspoken, bond and I knew that either one would die for me - as I would for either of them, like I said, they're my family.

Knowing Dan so well, it was not unexpected when after about 10 minutes of walking in silence, him trailing 2 or 3 metres behind myself, I heard a small cough, a clearing of the throat. I stopped, allowing him to catch up, and waited for what I knew was coming. "Sorry." he mumbled under his breath. It may have sounded feeble but I could see the sincerity of the apology swarming in his eyes. I stared at him, hard, for a second so that he would begin to feel only slightly uncomfortable before my face broke into a large grin and I hugged him, muttering my acceptance in his ear. 

We walked together a little while longer in a comfortable quietness until a thought suddenly popped into my head. "What were you even doing on that train, I thought you got back yesterday?" I asked him, giving him time to respond as I had learned never to expect a prompt answer from Dan. He looked as if he hadn't even heard me, but since he usually looked like that anyway it was hard to tell whether he actually had or not, so I just waited.

After about a minute he replied, "Some professor wanted a 'little chat' with me, which could apparently only happen at 9am this morning." I could sense the annoyance in his voice, a 'little chat' was never good and I knew it. And so did he. I gave him a concerned look, trying to tell him that it was okay for him to continue. Of course, I knew that he would - there wasn't much we didn't tell each other, especially when it came to Uni problems - but sometimes he just needed a little reassurance. 

He confirmed my concern with a nod as he continued, "Yeah, so not only did I have to stay an extra day in a place that I hate, making me late to return to my boyfriend who I haven't seen in over two weeks, I had to get up early to have a conversation with an overly-patronising professor about the fact that I might not be able to proceed with the course unless I knuckle down and improve my grades by the March exams." he sighed, taking a long deep breath out.

I gave him a moment to breathe before I said, "So, a shit couple of days then?" He smiled, a broad, goofy grin as he rolled his eyes sarcastically at me. I returned the smile. It was nice to see him, although we did attend the same University, our timetables were almost completely flipped and most of my free time was spent in the art facilities, we were lucky if we saw each other 3 times a week, but we did try our hardest. By this point it had probably been nearly a week since we'd last seen each other - end of school rush and all that - and probably nearly 10 days since I'd called Phil. Phil and I did text most days and we tried to call at least once a week, plus usually we all skyped on Monday nights as well so it's not like we'd go weeks without calling or anything. Once I didn't respond to his texts for two days straight and he got on a freaking train to come and check if I was alive, even though he could have just asked Dan.

"What are you thinking about?" Dan's voice interrupted my thought train. We were walking again now, probably about a mile left to go, Dan being a naturally quick walker with his long legs, and I, having learnt to keep up with them over the years, was pretty speedy myself. 

I smiled at the memory, not yet having remembered the entirety of that day's events, "Oh, just that time that Phil came over to check I wasn't dead." I giggled, as did Dan, "The look on his face when he saw me, I think he half expected I might've actually kicked the bucket!" We were properly laughing now, he had his hand on me for support and I couldn't walk in a straight line because my eyes were so scrunched up. It was just one of those memories that was so funny at the time, that even the mere mention of it sent you into a fit of giggles.

I stopped laughing when I remembered why I hadn't texted him back. Guilt flooded over me and Dan seemed to notice that something was wrong, the last of his laughs dying in his throat. "That was the day he nearly caught us." I thought aloud. He went silent. I knew he didn't like this subject, but I had felt we had had to talk about it for some time now. In a suddenly grave yet resolved tone I decided now was as good a time as any, "We need to tell him, Dan." 

"No." he said sternly, replying almost instantaneously for once.

I wasn't the least bit surprised at this answer, I wouldn't have expected anything less than a total shutdown to be honest, but this time I wasn't going to have it. "He deserves to know the truth." I replied with a bit more force.

He looked up at me, making eye contact, a slight look of disbelief on his face, "No. I'm not telling him." I could sense that he was trying to close the conversation down with his harsh tone but I didn't care.

I persisted defiantly, "And who says that your the one who gets to make that decision?" I asked. My anger levels were rising internally, but I was still managing to keep a lid on it, not wanting to have a full blown shouting match in the street.

He looked at me incredulously, "Because I'm his boyfriend!?"

I countered back, "And I'm his best friend!" Although that was strictly true, we both had equal ground to that claim and with the boyfriend thing on top I guess Dan technically had a point, but I felt strongly that Phil had a right to know.

As expected, Dan near shouted back at me, "So am I! _And_ I'm his boyfriend so that trumps best friend anyway." I couldn't help but feel slightly hurt by that comment, it threw me off for a second, but I decided to strike back hard - if he was gonna play dirty, so was I.

I calmed myself down, any expression leaving my face, as I looked down towards the pavement and said flatly, "Fine, Dan. Whatever. You're the one who's sleeping with the both of us so I guess it's your decision." I didn't look up, but I knew it made him uncomfortable when I said it out loud. He cleared his throat and was looking for something to say when I began to talk again, cutting him off. "Although, can I just say, it really isn't fair of you." 

I knew what was coming, "How can you say that? If Phil found out, it would absolutely crush him. He would be devastated, _we-_ " I knew that he meant the three of us, "-would be broken. The fairest thing to do is leave him in the dark." He concluded, seeming to think that it was over.

I nodded in consideration of this fact. "Yes, well, while that may or may not be true..." I ignored the sound of protest from Dan's direction. "I didn't actually mean unfair on Phil, I meant unfair to me." He was silent, shocked, I think. I used his inability to form words as an opportunity to continue. "I know that you have probably never considered my feelings but to be honest I feel used. Poor little Dan, gets lonely without Phil so he has to fall back on 'lil old me to satiate his needs." I paused for a second, risking a glance in Dan's direction.

"But did you ever think how it affected me? Always being second to Phil - I mean I really wouldn't mind if we were just friends, you know I love you both, and I can understand the boundaries between friends and boyfriends, but the sex is too much, it blurs the lines and it feels like you are desperately trying to fill the Phil shaped hole with sex... and I know I'm familiar and I probably remind you of him but when we're _together_ it never feels like you and me, it feels like you and your attempt to feel like your with Phil.

Not to mention the fact that I feel absolutely terrible betraying him like this. I carry around this constant guilt, most of the time it's the only thing on my mind, it keeps me up at night, I can't even text him without getting so scared that I feel like I'm gonna combust. Surely you must feel it too?" 

I finished and sighed, glad that I was finally able to get it all out, but for once I couldn't predict how he was going to react. He didn't say anything for a while, but when he did it was in a very quiet, timid voice. "Of course I do." A pause, "Why didn't you just tell me all of this? We could have stopped. We could have stopped at anytime." 

I took another deep breath, " Because, anytime I ever bring this up you always shut it down before I can even get a word in edgewise. And...Could we? Could we really have stopped anytime? If we could, don't you think we would have by now? Do you really think I haven't _tried_ to stop myself, that I don't think you have? I know what it's like, each time you tell yourself that it will be the last, that you can't go on hurting Phil like this, yet each time the phone rings, or you're feeling a little horny, you can't stop yourself. It's the forbidden fruit, Dan, and we both crave it."

He still hadn't looked at me, eyes glued to the pavement. We were nearly home by now, just another few minutes and we'd be there. "Okay." he said, trying to get his bearings, "Okay. so what do we do?"

I gave him an almost pitiful look, "We tell him. I know it's going to be hard, but we have to. We are both to blame here just as much as each other, Phil is our best friend, he will forgive us."

"Or maybe that's exactly the reason that he won't." Dan said, absolutely no trace of humour or wit about it.

"Well if that's the case then waiting even longer will not do anything to help." Our pace had slowed now, we were trying to prolong the walk in order to finish this conversation.

He seemed to consider this at great length, almost slowing to a stop, "Okay, but we will wait until after Christmas, Martyn's in Sweden with Corn and on the off chance that he does leave, I don't want him out on the streets, also, I really don't wanna ruin his Christmas, you know how much he's been looking forward to this, I don't wanna crush him anymore than I have to." I nodded my head in agreement - it was true that Phil had been truly very excited for Christmas, as he always was, and I didn't want to ruin that either. "Another thing... We tell him together, he needs to hear the full story from both of us at the same time, otherwise the risk of miscommunication is too great." 

"Okay." I said as I squeezed his hand, I could tell he was hyping himself up for this and I knew he was as terrified of this as I was. "On one condition, we don't back out of this. We don't change our minds. We are _going_ to tell him that we have been sleeping together for the last year and a half, okay? Otherwise, deals off, I'll tell him myself, with or without you present." I gave him a stern look to show him that I was being deadly serious.

He hesitated for a moment but eventually he nodded, "Okay then, deal." He held his left hand out and I shook it firmly.

"Deal." I repeated back at him.


	3. Monopoly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil gets a little too close to catching his boyfriend and his best friend...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SMUT WARNING: this chapter has some kind of explicit stuff in it so if thats not ur thing skip it there will be a summary at the end in notes for the rest of yall, enjoy ;)
> 
> my writings kinda shit so in case u cant tell this is supposed to be a flashback from the 'incident' mentioned in the last chapter. its about 6 months before the fisrt two chapters r set and the time setting will return to the christmas from the first two chapters in the next chapter.

My breath was heavy as I chased my second orgasm of the morning. I should be in my Fine Arts lecture right now but as I opened the door to leave, Dan was on the other side, eyes laden with lust and longing. I knew I wasn't going to make that lecture as soon as I saw him there, looking me up and down, already undressing me with his eyes. I'd gulped, said nothing, desire already pooling between my legs as he pushed me back against the wall of my tiny student dorm, closing the door behind him, but not locking it. 

The bed, which was around the corner from the door, seemed to be impossibly far away - out of sight, out of mind. Neither of us had said a word since I'd opened the door, signalling that there wasn't going to be any kinky shit today, just straight, raw fucking. His tongue had found his way into the warm cavern of my mouth without me even realising as he began to desperately rid me of my clothing. I tried to reciprocate, but my knees were already feeling weak.

In the brief moment that he pulled back to take his shirt off, I backed around the corner and collapsed onto the bed, half naked. He followed me, seemingly annoyed at the fact I wasn't where he'd left me. Standing above me, I watched as he unbuckled his belt, hurriedly removing his jeans in an attempt to free himself from the tight constraints of super skinny denim. As his eyes drifted back towards me, he let out a theatrical sigh at the sight of me still half clothed. His solution to this problem was to remove the leggings and pants I had put on barely 15 minutes earlier in one go.

He lined himself up, still standing over me, and I tried to prepare myself for the intrusion that I craved. By now, nearly a year after he'd started fucking me on the side, we didn't need to waste time bothering with foreplay - although we often enjoyed indulging in such pleasures. It had been only yesterday that he was last inside me - barely 10 hours ago - so when he crashed into me, I barely had to adjust to his pleasurable girth and length. He knew this and didn't give me any time to prepare myself before he began thrusting at a steady pace, already hitting that sweet spot.

Within a few minutes of just this, I was already close to the edge. Dan could tell, as he often could, and reached out one hand to play lazily with my breast, thumbing over my nipple for a few seconds before my orgasm came crashing over me, wave after wave after wave. Each convulsion caused him to moan as my walls tightened around his length, but I knew it hadn't been long enough for him so I was fully expecting him to continue fucking me throughout and after I had ridden out my high.

His thrusts were getting sloppy now, more desperate and I could tell he was getting close. I had almost come round from the white noise created by the intense pleasure of my first orgasm, and was already building up to my second. I looked up at Dan, his hair was a mess of sweaty curls and his face was scrunched up in concentration, ready to be released at any moment. Just as I was reaching the peak, he groaned the loudest he'd groaned all session, and I felt him cum deep inside of me. As he rode out his orgasm, those last few thrusts and the knowledge of his cum in me, caused me to career over the edge. 

A few moments later, once all was still, he pulled out of me and said, "Thanks, I really needed that one."

I laughed, that familiar feeling of guilt already beginning to creep in, "No problem, mate." I got up and headed towards the bathroom, collecting my discarded clothes as I went, "Pick your damn clothes up, I'm not a cleaning service." I said light-heartedly.

He hummed, "But what if I fancy round 2?" He had a dirty look in his eyes and it made me hate him, the way he could lure me into bed with just a look and the right words.

I was about to respond when there was a knock at the door, loud and frantic, "Hello?" Crap! That was Phil's voice, Dan and I shared an alarmed look. "Are you in there, I'm just checking you're alive." 

"Shit." I whispered to Dan. "Get dressed now and answer the door." I hissed at him. "Quickly!" I urged as he struggled to get his jeans on.

I ran into the bathroom and attempted to get dressed at sonic speed. A few moments later I heard the door open and a muffled conversation: "Hey, I was worri- Oh, hey babe, what're you doing here?" the confusion was evident in his kind voice.

I heard a muffled chuckle coming from Dan as he replied, "I could ask you the same question, it's not my birthday for another week!?" I was kind of amazed how easily he could lie to Phil's face, I had some real difficulty with lying to people. 

I flushed the loo, even though I hadn't been, and stepped out of the bathroom, fully clothed. "I was looking for you!" Phil said as he saw me, giving Dan a small peck on the cheek before making his way towards me and giving me a big bear hug. "You haven't texted me in nearly two days!! I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere!"

I laughed, nerves still rattling around my brain, giving me a monster headache. I saw Dan over Phil's shoulder and he gave me a wide-eyed warning look with a tight smile. "Haha don't be silly! I'm sorry... I've just had to cram for this lecture, and its been cancelled anyway! What are the chances?" I giggled nervously as he released me from his hug.

He gave me a loving look and said, "Well I understand, maybe next time I should just ask Dan instead of coming all the way down here." 

"You think!?" Dan said from behind us. "It's almost like your avoiding your pain-in-the-arse roommate or something." He added with a grin.

Phil took his coat off and hung it up behind the door, knowing the small dorm well after visiting at least once a month for the last year and a half. "Well maybe just a bit." He admitted with an adorable guilty smile. "Anyways I'd much rather be here with you guys anyways, Monopoly, hey? Oh the fun you guys must get up to without me." Fortunately, Phil was facing Dan at this point, otherwise he would have seen me nearly choke myself to death on a boiled sweet that I had picked up to excuse myself from speaking. 

"Ha-ha, yeah." Dan said, "But now you're here, I won't actually lose, for once." Phil gave him a light punch and we all sat down around the Monopoly board I had left out from the last time Dan and I had played, nearly a week ago when he came over to purely platonically hang out. That had been way to close, I was going to have to talk to Dan about this later, I thought, although later would not come until nearly Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary for those who skipped it:  
>  \- Phil nearly walks in on Dan and OFC both naked after having sex in OFC dorm room.  
>  \- Phil comes to check if OFC is ok cos she didn't text him back after basically just fucking Dan for 2 days straight.  
>  \- She lies saying she had a lecture to cram for  
>  \- Phil is none the wiser and they all play some monopoly that Phil assumes Dan and OFC were playing when he knocked at the door.  
>  \- Monopoly is actually left out from a game that Dan and OFC played a week ago, conveniently still there as a good excuse as to what they were doing.


End file.
